


Tricks and Treats and Bats and Birds

by CloakedSparrow



Series: Collected Bat-Family Stories [50]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Detective Comics (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Super Sons (Comics), Superboy (Comics)
Genre: Bat Brothers, Bat Family, Canon-Typical Violence, Con has a Potty Mouth, Friendship, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Holidays, Jason has a potty mouth, Minor Injuries, No Romance, No Sex, No Smut, One Shot, background Clark/Lois, super family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 14:16:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16430996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloakedSparrow/pseuds/CloakedSparrow
Summary: While visiting their friends at the Kent family farm, Jason, Tim, and Damian end up making some unexpected plans for Halloween. A pie-off, pumpkin carving, figuring out costumes, trick or treating, and of course, patrolling Gotham are all on the agenda.





	Tricks and Treats and Bats and Birds

**Author's Note:**

> Some references are made to ['Kidnapping the Waynes'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687246) and ['Last Laugh, First Steps'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15281652) from this series, and the 'Death in the Family' storyline from canon, but this story should stand on its own for those who haven't read those.

It was a nice Autumn day. Jason, Tim, and Damian went to the Kents’ farm to visit their friends and help them harvest the first crop of pumpkins while Clark was busy helping hurricane victims and Lois was at work. The drive to Metropolis had been uneventful. The day had been rather pleasant. 

Then, Jon asked Damian if he knew what he was dressing as for Halloween and if he’d like to come to Metropolis for the night.

Damian looked at his friend with perplexity. “Why would I do that?”

“So we can go trick or treating together.” Jon answered simply, clearly not thinking much of his friend's lack of enthusiasm. Meanwhile, their brothers were each preparing to intervene if necessary. “My mom said I can’t go to Gotham on Halloween. She says its too dangerous.”

Damian was already looking at his friend as if he were an imbecile. “Doesn’t your mother know you’re bulletproof? And of course its dangerous. The rise is crime on Halloween night is precisely _why_ I’ll be needed in Gotham.”

“We can cover Halloween.” Jason pointed out as he tossed a couple pumpkins into the cart they were filling. He motioned between himself and Tim. “We’ve both done it before. You can go trick or treating with your friend if you want.”

Damian frowned at his big brother. “Why would I want to go trick or treating?”

Jon answered that, swiftly and enthusiastically. “Because its fun! And we’re only a growth spurt or two from not being able to pass as young enough to go anymore. This could be our _last year_.”

Tim glanced at Conner -who shrugged, looking amused at the assessment- and then addressed his friend’s brother. “Uh, I don’t know how it is in Metropolis, but in Gotham, its pretty normal to see teenagers trick or treating.” 

“Yeah, just don’t act like an entitled little jerk and you should be fine.” Jason glanced at Damian, before addressing Jon again. “Well, _you_ should be fine then.” He pointed toward Conner and Bizarro. “Unless you suddenly turn huge like your brothers. Then it’ll be kinda weird.”

“Okay, that’s good to know, but still…” Jon tuned to Damian. “It’ll be fun to go trick or treating together. The Hawthornes give out full size candy bars and Mrs Garray makes the _best_ popcorn balls.”

His friend didn’t look even remotely convinced. “How is it fun to walk from house to house soliciting strangers for candy? Isn’t that something we’re generally told _not_ to do? I seem to recall Pennyworth being incredibly firm on that point.”

Jon looked at him blankly for a moment at the description. He sighed and then proceeded to explain the merits of trick or treating without acknowledging his friend’s attitude. “That rule doesn’t count on Halloween. As long as they have a jack o lantern lit on their porch, you can take candy from them. Its grandfathered in or something.”

“Just have your dad or Alfred inspect your candy before you eat it. Once its deemed safe by an adult, you’re good.” Conner chimed in as he tossed some pumpkins into the cart.

“I’d go with Alfie on that one.” Jason laughed quietly at a memory. “The only time I got in some trick or treating while I lived with Dad, when I was still training, he actually ran chemical tests on my candy in the damned Cave. Alfred had to stop him from x-raying it.”

Tim smiled as he cut pumpkins from the vine. “I could see that.”

Conner shook his head and took the pumpkins his friend had cut free. “Your dad takes paranoia to whole new levels.”

“You just have to learn how Bruce communicates.” Tim explained and tossed him another pumpkin. “Running a chemical analysis on Jason’s candy to look for any harmful additives was his way of saying ‘I love you’.”

Jason nodded. “And remember, we’re the middle children. We take what we can get.” 

Bizarro patted his friend on the back in a manner that was clearly meant to be comforting but looked slightly too hard. Conner shook his head with a displeased expression at the statement. “And I thought _my_ family was weird.”

Jon turned from their brothers back to his friend. He decided to change tactics. “You get to dress up as anything you want on Halloween.”

Damian arched a brow. “I dress up as exactly what I want nearly every night.”

“We get to stay up late.” Jon tried again.

Damian looked at him as though he were a simpleton. “Again, something I do almost every night.”

Conner looked at Tim as they approached the produce cart with their pumpkins. “You know, you were never a jerk about that. Even when you went all business, you weren’t a little shit about it.”

“Damian and I are very different people.” Tim dropped the pumpkin he was carrying into the cart and then took one of the pumpkins from the dozen his best friend was balancing in his arms to help get them in without breaking any. 

“I’m glad for that.” Conner dropped an armful of pumpkins into the cart once the pile was reduced enough. “We’d have never been friends if you were like him.”

Jon ignored their brothers once again and continued trying to entice his friend to come trick or treating with him. “Even if your dad goes berserk checking it, you still get candy.”

Damian scoffed and lifted a pumpkin. “I’m rich. I can simply _buy_ candy if I feel like it. With my allowance, I can afford to hire a chocolatier to come to the Manor for a weekend to make me whatever I want.”

“ _Wow._ ” Jason spoke quietly but with no small amount of passion as he turned to Tim. “I’m so glad neither of us were ever that spoiled.” His little brother simply raised his brows and nodded his agreement. Beside them, Conner and Bizarro tried not to laugh. 

“Everyone’s houses are all decorated really cool and some of them even put together haunted barns or corn mazes to walk through. Plus, they have games we can play!” Jon continued trying to sell his friend on the joys of Halloween. 

That, at least, caused Damian to look confused more than irritated or condescending. “Why is _that_ a selling point? We play games all the time. We can play a game tonight.”

Jon smiled at the small show of progress. “Not _these_ games. These are _Halloween_ games. There’s pumpkin painting contests; the gross food guess; Halloween bingo; bobbing for apples…”

“We’re going to be carving some of the pumpkins we’re picking today.” Damian’s confusion returned to haughtiness and irritation immediately. “Why would we want to guess gross foods? And we both have pantries with apples. If you want an apple, go get one. No need for dunking your face in germ infested water.”

“Seriously, how is your brother such a killjoy?” Conner spoke quietly to his best friend. “He just established that he gets to do what he loves, virtually has no curfew, and can afford pretty much anything he wants. Shouldn’t he be the happiest thirteen-year-old in the world?”

“Wealth doesn’t equal happiness.” Tim spoke in defense of his brother, and likely, to remind his friend that they all had their issues despite being wealthy. 

“Fair enough.” Conner tilted his head in acceptance. He held up a finger. “ _But_ that doesn’t cover the part where he apparently loves being Robin. You were usually stressed about that and yet you still managed not to be a pissy stick-in-the-mud all the time.”

Jason quietly entered the conversation. “You know I hate to agree with your super suspicious friend here, but he’s got a point.” Considering how often said suspicion had been directed toward Jason, which irritated him to no end, everyone knew he had to _really_ agree with Conner to point it out. 

“There’s pumpkin pie!” Jon suddenly blurted out in his enthusiasm. He held up a pumpkin as if in demonstration. 

Damian arched a brow at him. “I can request that Pennyworth make pumpkin pie anytime. In fact, I don’t have to bother anytime soon. He’s going to make pies, cookies, muffins, and scones with the pumpkins we’re bringing back to the Manor tonight.”

Jason looked intrigued at that statement. “Mental note: stop by the Manor a lot over the next couple of weeks.”

“Me like pie.” Bizarro spoke with a slightly dreamy quality as he tossed a large armful of pumpkins into the cart.

Jason patted his friend’s arm. “We’ll bring you one, big guy.”

“Our grandma’s making pies too.” Conner pointed out. “I think hers are on par with Alfred’s, if not slightly better, to be honest.”

“Awesome.” Jason grinned. He turned to Tim. “We’ll each make one too and we’ll have a pie-off.” Bizarro, Conner, and Tim each agreed that was a great idea. 

Meanwhile, Jon thought of another reason to be excited about Halloween. “We can tell scary stories on Halloween!”

Damian tsked at his friend and gestured toward his brothers. “If you want a scary story, just ask one of them about any of the times they’ve dealt with an Arkham escape. You don’t have to wait until Halloween. They don’t have much of a social life and we’re all generally more active at night, so they’re available most days of the year.”

Tim glanced at his little brother as he cut another pumpkin from the vine. “You know we have day jobs, right? Jason’s practically taken over the Wayne Foundation’s local outreach programs. I run Wayne Enterprises by day and that’s actually what pays for your gear, pet food, and possible future chocolatier.”

Damian sniffed and dumped his pumpkin into the cart without comment.

Jason paused for a moment, thinking. He looked at his little brother. “Shit, you’ve become the family sugar-baby.”

“The _what_?” Tim looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or insulted.

Strangely, it appeared that Conner understood exactly what Jason meant. “Like a sugar-daddy, but tiny and undemanding.”

Jason gestured at the Kent he normally butted heads with. “Exactly. You make the money for everyone else, but instead of wanting s-”

“No.” Tim didn’t emphasize or even look at his big brother or best friend. He just continued releasing pumpkins from their vine. “Just... _no_. Stop talking.”

Jason did. He offered his little brother an apologetic head tilt as he realized why what he was about to say might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. 

Conner frowned. “Actually, thinking on it like that, its less like you’re a sugar-baby and more like a child laborer. You basically work for nothing but the continued survival of your family.”

“I work for my family’s safety and happiness, and to serve my community, thank you.” Tim started piling pumpkins into Conner’s arms again. “Do you know how much I’ve reduced Wayne Enterprises carbon footprint since I took over? And I’ve improved our revenue by over fifty percent. _And_ made the family's other work more secure. I’ve worked for a lot.”

“I wasn’t saying you don’t accomplish anything, Tim.” Conner looked slightly chagrined, even if Tim hadn’t sounded particularly hurt or hostile. “I know how productive you are when you put your mind to something.”

“Yeah, Timbers.” Jason patted Tim’s shoulder before he started taking his share of pumpkins. “I just meant you don’t get enough out of it personally. Everything you do benefits other people.”

Tim arched a brow and spoke in a deadpan. “Yeah, because benefiting my family, the city I live in, and the entire world’s atmosphere is clearly not going to do anything for me in the long run.” He sighed mournfully. “I’ve wasted my life.”

Jason laughed as he and Conner each dumped a super-armful of pumpkins into the cart. “Okay, you have a point there.”

Bizarro began pushing the overly full cart toward the house. Jason went with him to make sure everything stayed balanced and to keep his friend company. 

Jon turned back to Damian and returned to the subject of their potential Halloween plans. “Have you ever even been trick or treating before?”

Damian sighed and looked up to the sky as he asked his grandmother for patience in Farsi. Why he assumed Martha Wayne’s spirit understood Farsi, no one knew, but it was one of the most human things he ever did, so no one wanted to discourage it. After the brief plea for patience, Damian addressed his friend with notable frustration, but not quite as much as he had in the past. That was another reason why no one questioned his new habit; it seemed to be working slightly better than counting by itself did for him. 

“Have you heard nothing I’ve said all afternoon? _Why_ would I participate in trick or treating? It has nothing to offer me that I don’t already possess or have the ability to obtain on a regular basis. It doesn’t offer anything special to me as it apparently does to you.”

Jon threw his hands out quizzically. “But how do you _know_ there isn’t anything special about it if you’ve never gone?”

Damian frowned. 

Conner smirked. “He’s got you there.”

“You should try it.” Tim grinned at his brother. “For science. That way, you have a basis for comparison for future arguments.”

Damian crossed his arms and glared at Tim. “You’ve never murdered anyone and yet you speak against it with certainty. What’s your basis for comparison?”

Tim shot him a cool look. “I’m familiar with the effects and aftermath of murder. And shock value doesn’t work on me. If you don’t have a reasonable argument, just keep your mouth shut next time.”

Damian’s glare intensified. “I’ve experienced the ‘effects and aftermath’ of trick or treating, according to Jon’s descriptions. So by your logic-”

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Conner glared at the youngest Wayne. “Why are you such an _asshole_?” 

“Con.” Tim stood and gave his friend a look that clearly said ‘drop it’.

Conner turned to his best friend as he gestured toward Damian. “Seriously, who the hell compares trick or treating to murder? Who uses having your loved ones murdered to avoid acknowledging you have a point?”

Jason turned a less hostile glare at Conner as he approached. He and Bizarro had noticed that Damian was turning on Tim. “Hey! You don’t talk to _any_ of my brothers that way, jackass. I don’t care how pissy they’re acting. Got it?” 

“And you aren’t supposed to use the ‘A’ word,” Jon chimed in.

Before Conner could respond to either, Jason turned the glare onto his youngest sibling. “The jackass is right though. That was a fucked up comparison, even by _my_ standards. You only used it because you knew it would hurt Tim. Do it again; I’m not gonna ask you to knock it off nicely. Got it?”

Damian turned his head away, arms still crossed but looking decidedly less hostile. “Understood.”

Jason put his hands on his hips, huffed out a frustrated breath, and shook his head, looking disappointed. Damian stood with his arms crossed and continued glaring at no one in particular. Tim looked somber as he silently continued cutting pumpkin stalks, avoiding eye contact with the others. Conner was watching Tim, looking concerned and agitated in equal measure. Jon pushed around a piece of vine with his sneaker and looked at each of the quiet teenagers in turn, appearing uncertain.

“Me want go trick or treating.” Bizarro announced as he returned with the empty cart. He paused when he took in the other boys’ body language and expressions. Jason and Jon had turned to look at him, but otherwise looked the same. The others didn’t turn their heads. “What happen?”

Jason took a deep breath. “Nothing.” He glanced at each of his little brothers. Then he turned back to Bizarro. “You said you want to go trick or treating?”

“You can come with us- Or...” Jon glanced at Damian. “ _Me_ …if Damian still doesn’t want to go.”

“I’ll go.” Damian huffed. “Drake _might_ have had a point.”

Jon smiled. “Awesome! We’re gonna have so much fun with my brothers.”

“Brothers? As in plural?” Damian questioned.

“I’m supposed to keep an eye on Jon, so I’ll be going too.” Conner explained before turning to look at his big brother. He offered him a smile. “What made you decide you want to go?”

Bizarro frowned and thought for a minute. The others each understood that sometimes it took him a little while to figure out how to say what he was feeling. They all waited quietly, not rushing him or making him feel bad. 

“Me am…different. _Look_ different. _Talk_ different. Me can’t go out like everybody else. Me am scary. Scare people…”

Bizarro gestured over his friends and brothers. “Brothers and Red Him and Little Red no see me am different. Me have fun with them. If _everybody_ look different…no one see me am different. Me scare no one. Me have fun.”

“Biz…you aren’t scary.” Jon walked over to his brother and hugged him. His head only came up to his big brother’s stomach and his arms didn’t make it around his hips, but that didn’t stop him from holding on. 

Bizarro carefully put his hands on his little brother’s back. “Thank you, Blue-Pup.”

Jon stepped away to look up at his brother. “We’ll find you a great costume, okay?” He smiled. “We’ll have a lot of fun.”

Jason and Tim appeared to have a silent conversation before Jason turned his attention back to his friend. “We’ll go too, big guy. If you want.” Tim stood and nodded his agreement as his big brother spoke. 

“Me like that.” Bizarro smiled. “Red Him and Little Red am always welcome.”

Jason smiled in return. “Thanks, buddy.” He looked at Tim and then Damian. “Guess we’re going to need to find some costumes.”

Jon suddenly perked up. “Hey, we could pick a theme for all our costumes! Like, we could all be members of the Justice League or Ghostbusters!”

“We can’t all go as Ghostbusters. There’s only four of them.” Damian frowned. “And they’re all girls, except for the useless secretary.”

“Useless _receptionist_.” Tim corrected, seemingly without thought. He realized what he said afterwards when Damian shot him a small glare. “Sorry. Been having some issues with some of the older guys recognizing gender equality at work. Correcting it’s just habit now.”

Damian didn’t remark on the explanation or the apology, but he nodded and stopped glaring at his brother. It was enough for the Waynes. 

Besides, the eldest present Wayne was caught on another point. “You guys know the original Ghostbusters were all men, right?” When none of the others appeared to know what he was talking about, Jason face palmed. “How have none of you seen the originals?”

“Are they any good?” Conner asked, sounding skeptical. 

“Yeah.” Jason rolled his eyes. “Would they have bothered with a reboot if the originals were crap?”

“Are they as good as the new one?” Tim questioned his brother, looking curious. “Theatrical version. The scenes from the extended cut were obviously cut for a reason.” 

Conner and Damian both nodded their agreement to the statement.

Jason nodded his agreement as well. Then, he opened his mouth, then closed it and thought for a second. “Uh, well now that I think about it, they’re kinda dated. And only half of the team seems to actually _want_ to be Ghostbusters. And the second one doesn’t really make much sense when you think of it. I mean, everyone saw there were ghosts in the first film, so why are the Ghostbusters suddenly a joke?”

Damian arched a brow. “Pass.”

“I think I’ll stick with the new one, too.” Tim patted Jason’s arm. 

“Same.” Conner started tossing pumpkins into the cart. 

Jon looked confused. “Why are they Ghostbusters if they don’t want to be?”

“One of them just needed a job and-” Jason paused. “Huh. I guess the other just wanted something to do that might impress the ladies?”

Jon frowned with his whole face. “Yeah, pass.”

Bizarro was also frowning. “Me like Ghostbusters. Me don’t want to see them be joke again.”

Jason wore a bland expression at everyone’s response. “Okay, moving on… We can still dress as Ghostbusters even if there’s six of us. And we’re all guys. We can be new recruits or something, like in the video games.”

He looked at each of the others in turn. “If that’s what everyone wants to do?” 

“Naw. Thanks though, Jason.” Jon looked at each of the older boys. “What about my Justice League idea? Biz, you could be Mr J’onzz or Batman! That way, you’d be covered up and no one would think anything about how big you are.”

“No way, kid.” Jason shook his head and looked at the younger boy seriously. “Dressing up as people you know ‘for fun’ never turns out good. Its only a matter of time before you piss someone off. No one likes to be impersonated and people tend to be sensitive about impersonations of their loved ones or heroes.”

“What about Power Rangers?” Jon suggested after thinking for a only a second or two. 

“What are Power Rangers?” Damian questioned, looking somewhat intrigued by the name. 

At the same time, Jason made a sound of disbelief. “Those are still around? I’d hoped they died out while I was dead…or crazy.”

“Nope.” Tim placed a consoling hand on his big brother’s arm. “They’re still around. They even have a new comic series and a recent movie.”

“Why won’t they just let them die?” Jason shook his head. “Damn superhero wannabes…”

“What about something non-superhero related?” Conner suggested, eyeing the Waynes with something between suspicion and concern. He turned his full attention to Jon when Jason and Tim both started laughing quietly. “We’re already heroes. Let’s be something else for a night. Something scary and Halloweenie, like werewolves or vampires.”

“I like that idea.” Tim sounded intrigued. “Hey! We could each be a different classic monster. I mean, if we don’t all want to dress as the same type. That way, it’ll still work as a group.”

“Oh, I’m gonna be a zombie if we go that route.” Jason sounded mildly excited. “I can drive Dad and Dick nuts with photos for _months_.”

“Me like Frankenstein.” Bizarro commented, looking excited. 

Jason looked his friend over. “You would make an _awesome_ Frankenstein.” 

Bizarro smiled. He looked at his younger brothers. “What am Black-Pup and Blue-Pup dress as?”

“I think I’m gonna go vampire.” Conner looked thoughtful. “Its something different from how I normally look, but not over the top.” He glanced at Tim. “Can you hep me with the makeup?” He grinned. “I suck at makeup.”

His best friend nodded. “I’ll come early and we can do both of ours together.” Tim considered for a moment. “Are you going for a sophisticated-classic-Dracula-vampire, creepy-ancient-Nosferatu-vampire, Gothic-Anne-Rice-vampire, or Twilight-sparkle-vampire?”

“Probably a Dracula-type-vampire. Possibly the Anne-Rice-type, if I can’t find a Dracula style costume I like. They dress pretty normal, right? Only…dead and fierce looking?” Conner echoed the nod his best friend replied with. “Cool.

“Then one of those.” He took some more pumpkins from Tim. “How about you?”

“I think I’ll be a ghost. Like J-Horror ghost, not the Charlie Brown style.” Tim gestured over his face. “That way I won’t have to wear much makeup going out for once.” Between his skin having been bleached by the Joker and liberally covered in scars by his life in general, plus the perpetual dark circles around his eyes from sleep deprivation, Tim constantly had to airbrush his skin before going out when he wasn’t Red Robin. He rarely complained, but his best friend knew how much he didn’t like it. 

Conner looked his friend over closely, likely using x-ray vision to see through the makeup. He nodded. “That’ll look badass. Especially with your hair and eyes. Hey, you could be the ghost of one of my victims. It’ll tie ‘em together.”

“ _Perfect_.” Tim grinned at the suggestion. He and Conner fist bumped.

Jason smiled at Tim and then turned to look at Damian and Jon. “What about you two? Got any ideas?”

“I’m gonna be a werewolf.” Jon announced happily. “Like Professor Lupin! He’s my favorite.” They’d all recently checked out the Harry Potter books and the youngest Kent had definitely gotten into them more than any of the others. At present, he was wearing the scarf, gloves, and hat Dick had gotten him in the Hufflepuff house colors. The fact that they were also Batman’s colors amused the two eldest Wayne boys to no end, so they’d purchased everything they could find in Hufflepuff house colors for the youngest Kent.

Jason grinned at Jon’s enthusiasm (and attire) and then turned his attention to his youngest sibling. “What about you? Any classic monsters you like? Vampires? Djinn? Mummies? Dybbuk?”

“I do like mummies, but that sounds a bit plain.” Damian thought for a moment. “I’ve always enjoyed tales about pharaohs as well. I think I’ll combine them.”

“So like a pharaoh’s mummy?” Jon asked, looking at his friend with interest. 

“A former pharaoh who is now a mummy. Not a mummy in service of a pharaoh.” Damian made sure the distinction was clear. Not that any of the others thought he’d pick a servant over a ruler.

His friend nodded to show he got it. “That’ll be cool.” 

Jon glanced from his pumpkins to his friend. “Can you do the pharaoh eye makeup? If you can’t, my mom can probably do it for you. She’s really good with eye makeup. She can even put hers on in the car while Dad’s driving.”

“I’ve never put on eye makeup before.” Damian frowned briefly before dismissing it with a regal shrug. “I doubt its that difficult. But if I have trouble, I’ll likely be coming early with Drake and Todd. Your mother can assist me then, if she’s so inclined. Otherwise, Drake can do it.”

Tim lifted his hands in a questioning gesture and looked mildly baffled at being volunteered, but he said nothing. He just shook his head and returned to work. Jason laughed silently. Conner frowned and shook his head, looking irritated. Bizarro appeared glad that his little brother was a lot nicer than his friend’s.

They continued talking and harvesting the pumpkins. Afterwards, they carved some to go around the Kent house and played a game of basketball until the wind picked up. Then they played a video game before it was time for the Waynes to head back to Gotham for the evening. All in all, it was a good day. 

A few days later, Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Damian arrived at the Kent family farm for the previously decided pumpkin pie taste off. There was a pie each made by Alfred, Jason, Tim, Martha Kent, and one made by Lois and Jon. None of them had eaten any of the pies yet that season, and Tim volunteered to slice and serve, so no one would know who’s pie they were tasting when they judged it.

“Remember, Tim’s has healthy crap in it. That has to effect the taste a little.” Jason reminded Damian to help him out a little, since he’d mostly been exposed to Alfred’s pies. He didn’t want his little brother to say anything too rude without considering why one person’s pie might taste different from another, especially one as good as Alfred’s. “Grandmother Kent does old school, pioneer woman type of cooking. Mine is just plain awesome.”

Damian scoffed. “We all know Pennyworth is going to win.”

“Alfie’s pies are the best.” Jason agreed with a short nod. “But you still might like something different. Keep your options open.”

“That’s always good advice.” Lois directed a smile at Damian as she brought in some drinks. She stroked Jon’s hair before taking her seat on Clark’s other side. “Jon tells me all of you boys are going out together on Halloween. I’m glad you’re going to be having some fun.”

“And its good that you’ll all be in a group. It’ll be safer and more fun.” Clark added with a smile and then turned to Bruce. “How are you going to handle Gotham without them? You know you can always call if you need a hand.” His expression was open and kind.

Bruce looked at his friend with a cool blend of bafflement, mild irritation, and something that only his children and best friend could recognize as fondness. “You do remember that I’ve done this by myself before?”

Jason frowned. “You were only Batman for a few years before Dick came along and you haven’t been alone since.” He directed a tiny smirk at his father. “And didn’t you get your ass kicked a lot more back then?”

“You’re supposed to say ‘butt’.” Jon chimed in. His parents smiled at the offhand correction.

Jason offered the youngest Kent a nod of acknowledgment before turning back to his father. “ _But_ didn’t you get your ass kicked a lot more back then?”

Jon glanced at Damian, who just shook his head and mouthed ‘moron’.

“ _Everyone _gets their butt kicked a lot more when they’re starting out.” Clark commented. Jason’s expression told him that he got what Jon had meant when he corrected him before. He offered a short, slightly apologetic shrug, which Clark nodded in reply to. He didn’t appear upset or angry with the young man.__

____

____

Clark looked at Bruce again once he was sure Jason understood that it was okay. He indicated his friend’s second son. “He has a point though. You’ve had them around more often than not. And you always say Halloween is one of the worst nights in Gotham.”

It was clear by Bruce’s expression that he recognized his friend's point but had no intentions of asking him for help.

“Its okay, Clark.” Tim joined he conversation seamlessly as he entered with plates containing several thin pie slices each. “I already talked to Kate and Renee. They’re going to help out earlier in the evening, while we’re here. Then, we’ll get back to Gotham after Jon’s bedtime and take over so they can go to their party. Plus, Barbara said her team is going to be local that night and Luke’s going to be available in case anyone needs more backup.

“Bruce won’t be alone.” He offered the man small, grateful smile before putting a plate of pie down in front of him. “Did you want whipped cream? Anyone?” He glanced at the others while he continued passing out the pie. When he was done, he returned to the kitchen and came back with a large bowl of whipped cream.

Lois looked torn between bafflement and being impressed as she pointed to the bowl. “Wait, Tim, did you just _make_ that?”

“Uh...yeah?” Tim looked confused and slightly concerned. “Was I not supposed to?”

“No, that’s great.” Lois smiled at the teenager. “Its just that you didn’t have to go to the trouble. We have tubs of whipped topping in the freezer we could have used.”

“Whipped _topping_?” Damian's nose scrunched slightly in distaste. “What is that supposed to be?”

“Its a nondairy alternative to whipped cream.” Bruce explained quickly before his youngest could insult their hosts and closest friends. Once he saw that Damian wasn’t looking _too_ snobbish about it, he turned to his second youngest. “Actually, Tim, aren’t you supposed to be avoiding dairy?” His eyes briefly flickered to the area where Tim’s spleen used to be located before meeting his gaze again.

Tim looked slightly surprised and impressed. “Yeah, I'm not supposed to eat it at all.” He arched a brow, but sounded casual as he explained. “I just made it for everyone else.” He indicated the plain slice of pie on his plate. “I’m not eating it.” 

He wore a small, pleased smile when he looked at his father again. “Thanks, though.”

“Well it was very thoughtful of you to make it for the rest of us, Tim, and it looks great. Thank you.” Clark smiled at the boy and grabbed the bowl of whipped cream. 

“I want whipped cream!” Jon was apparently very enthusiastic about whipped cream. He covered the tops of each slice from end to end with the topping while his father held the bowl for him.

“Me like whip cream.” Bizarro shared his youngest brother’s enthusiasm. His plate was pretty much equal parts pie and whipped cream by the time he was done adding it. 

“We’re supposed to be tasting the _pie_ , you heathens.” Jason complained as he shook his head.

“How can you eat pumpkin pie without whipped cream? If you can’t taste the pie through the whipped cream, then its just a bland pie.” Conner argued as he plopped a more sedate heap of whipped cream onto each slice. He glanced at his best friend after taking a bite of both. “Thanks. This _is_ really good.”

Tim nodded with a small, amused grin. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard Conner state that pumpkin pie required a whipped topping of some sort. That was actually why he’d made it to begin with. 

Meanwhile, Lois had laughed at Conner’s argument. “I’m with Jason. I’ll stick to the pies by themselves.” She looked over each of the males at the table. “Plus, not all of us burn through four thousand calories a day.”

“You burn through plenty.” Clark laughed softly as he tasted his first bite of pie. He’ only put a small spoonful of whipped cream on each slice. “You hardly ever stay at your desk.” 

Lois merely gave a small shrug and a nod of agreement. She still didn’t take any whipped cream.

“Pennyworth’s pies taste exceptional without any need for dressings.” Damian sniffed and tasted the first slice of pie on his plate. “But this one isn’t Pennyworth’s.” He dropped a dollop of whipped cream onto that specific slice. 

“Damian, don’t be rude.” Bruce quickly admonished his youngest before turning his attention back to his second youngest. “What you were saying earlier; you already made arrangements for Halloween?”

“Of course.” Tim looked puzzled. “We’re not going to leave you alone on such a dangerous night.”

Bruce’s expression was carefully neutral. “You could have asked me.”

“Why would we do that?” Jason asked, his tone pitched just this side of warning. “We don’t check with you before we patrol any other night. We don’t _need_ to check with you.”

Bruce took a breath. “You’re right.” He looked Jason in the eye. “You don’t. But you also don’t have to assume that you can’t just take a night off once in a while. I appreciate that you tell me when you aren’t going to be available, but I can make arrangements if I need backup.”

“We _do_ take a night off once in a while. Mostly because one of us is hurt, but...” Jason shrugged before eating half a slice of pie. He glanced down at his plate and looked impressed. “Damn, the second one’s good.”

“But Halloween isn’t just any night.” Tim took over the explanation once his big brother allowed himself to be distracted in order to prevent an argument. “And Damian isn’t going to be there either. A Gotham Halloween takes more than just one of us to keep up with everything. Even if that one is you.”

Damian was listening to his father and brothers speak with a pensive expression. “Father, if you require aid on Halloween night, I-”

“No, son.” Bruce reached over and patted his youngest child’s back. “Go trick or treating with your friend. What I said to your brothers goes for you too. You deserve a night off once in a while.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed. “You and Pennyworth ensure that I have plenty of downtime and rest.”

“We try.” Bruce wore a small grin as he considered how often they had wrangle his youngest back home after he tried to sneak off (or successfully managed to). “But you need to spend some time with people your own age. You need to learn to socialize and have fun. I’m _glad_ you’re spending Halloween with your friend.”

Damian’s glare softened slightly at that. He didn’t answer. Instead eating the next slice of pie on his plate. He didn’t add whipped cream to that one.

Jason indicated the slice with his fork. “Good, right?”

“Its perfectly acceptable.” Damian commented as he took another bite, chewing it slowly. Jason rolled his eyes but didn’t press for a better response. 

Conner stuffed a large bite of whipped cream topped pie into his mouth. “So how come you’ve never been trick or treating before, Damian?”

“Con, smaller bites.” Lois tossed her middle son a napkin. “And don’t talk with your mouth full. No one wants to see that.”

Conner wiped his mouth and swallowed. “Sorry, Mom.” She simply waved it off. 

“My mother wasn’t fond of such frivolous traditions.” Damian appeared to be choosing his words with a little more care than usual. “And I haven’t felt the need to explore that particular one since moving in with my father due to the reasons I stated the other day.”

“Well _I_ don’t think its too frivolous. I think you’re gonna have fun.” Jon stated with certainty before turning to Damian’s eldest brother present. “What about you, Jason? Did you used to go trick or treating when you were little?”

Jason pulled a face. “Hell, yeah. No way I was passing up on free candy as a kid.”

He considered his words. “At least, on Halloween. Outside of that, the ‘no candy from strangers’ rule _definitely_ applied in my neighborhood. Even on Halloween, I went to nicer neighborhoods to go trick or treating. The candy in mine was probably laced with drugs just from contact alone.” 

Jon looked aghast. Lois did too. Clark’s expression was pitying. Bruce’s was regretful. Conner looked slightly confused. Tim, Bizarro, and Damian didn’t look surprised in the least, though Tim and Bizarro also looked sympathetic.

Upon noticing the others’ reactions, Jason glanced at Tim. “Is that one of those things we aren’t supposed to talk about in front of ‘polite company’?”

“We’re with friends. You can talk about that here.” Tim patted his big brother’s arm and managed to looked sympathetic and optimistic at the same time. “Besides, it wasn’t that bad. Sort of like a cautionary tale.”

“Exactly.” Lois agreed. She looked at her sons. “That’s why you let your father or I check your candy before eating it.”

Jon nodded at his mother’s words. Then he looked at Tim. “What about you, Tim? Did you used to go trick or treating before you became Robin and started working on Halloween?”

Bruce frowned slightly at the phrasing, but said nothing. 

Tim simply shook his head. “No. I was usually at school during Halloween.”

The youngest Kent looked confused. “What about _after_ school? Couldn’t you go then?”

“I went to boarding schools whenever I didn’t live with Bruce.” Seeing that the younger boy was still confused, Tim explained further. “The class schedule isn’t the same as day school, so we had classes later. There weren’t any houses on campus or even that many adults after hours, so it wouldn’t be practical to set up some sort of trick or treat simulation. Plus, that really wasn’t the sort of thing the parents were paying for when they sent their children to that type of school.”

“Your parents sent you away?” Jon sounded horrified. He looked pitiful. 

Lois jumped in when he saw that Tim had no idea how to respond to that. “Sometimes, when parents have a child as gifted as Tim, they think sending them where they can learn more is best for the child.”

Conner scoffed at that. “If they cared about what was best for him, they’d have bothered getting to know him.” His voice was low and murderous. 

Meanwhile, Jason was glaring at his pie slices as if they were scum. He quietly murmured ‘assholes’ before shoving a fork-full of pie into his mouth and chewing with slightly more force than necessary.

“A parent sending their child to boarding school doesn’t mean they don’t care.” Lois glanced at Bruce as she spoke. Her expression made it clear she would follow his lead on how to address the subject, since it would affect one of his children most of all. Actually, her expression basically demanded that he take over the conversation. 

Bruce looked lost for the briefest moment. Then he cleared his throat and addressed Jon, who still looked horrified at the idea of a child being sent away from their parents. Or the thought of a child’s parents _purposefully_ sending them away. “Sometimes, parents have important jobs or other essential duties. Th-” He glanced at Tim and decided he wasn’t going to finish what he’d been about to say. 

His second youngest child was sitting with his back and shoulders straight but had his head bowed, seemingly to look at his plate. He rolled a small piece of pie back and forth with his fork, but showed no intention of eating it. His mouth was a straight line. His eyes were gloomy and distant. His breaths were purposefully regular and even.

Bruce had tried excusing the Drakes’ neglect once before -when they were both still alive but more removed from their son’s life at the time than Bruce’s deceased parents were from his own- by commenting on the importance of their work. He’d felt bad doing that then. Bad for excusing any child neglect and especially bad for not pointing out that Tim didn’t deserve to be an afterthought in his parents’ lives. He wasn’t going to defend them again. He also didn’t want to make his son any more uncomfortable. 

He looked over each of his sons as he finished explaining. “They can forget that their children are far more important than any job.” Damian appeared to think on that for a moment, then his expression relaxed and he took another bite of pie, apparently satisfied with whatever he’d made of the remark. Jason met Bruce’s gaze with a tiny smirk and a subtle nod of approval. Tim’s gaze was a little less distant, his expression was less gloomy, but his eyes looked conflicted. Bruce wanted to ask what he was conflicted about, but didn’t think his second youngest would appreciate the call out in front of their friends and Damian.

Instead of addressing any of his sons in front of company, Bruce quickly turned his attention back to Jon. "Do you understand?"

The boy frowned in confusion. “Mom has an important job…and Dad has essential duties.” He looked at both of his parents and then his brothers. “They never forget we’re important.”

“That’s because they’re good parents.” Conner replied before anyone else could say anything. Bizarro nodded at his brother’s statement. 

Clark beamed. He put a hand on his youngest son’s shoulder and looked over each of his boys. “And because you boys are all too special to forget how important you are to your mother and me.”

Lois smiled at her son when he looked at her, but her eyes found Bruce’s as soon as Jon was distracted by his father again. Her gaze darted from him, to Tim, and back. Her expression was concerned and questioning. Clearly, she wanted to know if it was alright to continue on the subject as it was being discussed. 

Bruce made a subtle gesture, not unlike the one he made when he needed one of his Robins to stand down without drawing attention to the order. Using the discussion to address the Drakes’ neglect was logical (and tempting) but he knew it would only make Tim more uncomfortable to bring it up in front of everyone again. 

Lois gave the slightest hint of a nod and turned her attention back to her kids and their friends. Clark appeared to have caught the nature of the exchange -or had somehow been signaled by his wife- because he immediately brought the subject back to the present Halloween with his next question. “Have you boys decided on any costumes yet? We should start working on them soon, don’t you think?”

“We’re all gonna be classic monsters.” Conner was quick to fill his parents in, likely wanting to change the topic of discussion as well. “I’m gonna be a vampire.”

Jon jumped onto the new subject with enthusiasm. “I’m gonna be a werewolf!” 

“Sounds like its gonna be pretty spooky here on Halloween.” Clark smiled and turned to Bizarro. “What about you, Biz? Which classic monster did you pick?”

“Me am be Frankenstein.” Bizarro answered with a smile.

“Oh, that’s perfect.” Lois smiled at her eldest. “Do you want me to help with your makeup?”

Bizarro nodded. His mother brushed his hair back with her fingers and looked over his face. “Do you want the classic neck bolts and stitches across the forehead, or the newer style with more stitches and some different skin tones?”

Bizarro thought for a moment. “Me like classic.” 

“Me too.” Lois shared another smile with her eldest and then turned to her other sons. “What about you two? Need any help?”

Jon nodded right away. “Thanks, Mom.”

Conner pointed toward his best friend with a forkful of pie. “Tim’s gonna come over early so we can do ours together. Thanks, though.”

Bruce looked interested at that comment. “I didn’t realize all of you were dressing up. Damian only mentioned his costume.” He glanced sideways at his youngest -who tried another slice of pie with no sign of remorse- before turning back to his middle boys. “What are you dressing as?”

Jason smirked. “What else? I’m the living dead.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed immediately. His mouth was a firm line. There was no trace of humor in his tone. “Jason, that isn’t funny.”

His second eldest shrugged and gave a short head tilt. “It kinda is.” He ate another bite of pie as well, also showing no sign of remorse. 

“You _died_.” Bruce’s expression and tone hadn’t changed in the slightest. There was a slight edge to his gaze though; an old pain and anger that had never fully healed. 

Jason seemed determined to keep the conversation light, despite the turn in topic. “But I didn’t _stay_ dead, hence the zombie costume.” He ate another bite of pie. “Its tongue-in-cheek.”

Tim sighed and continued pushing his pie around on his plate. “Just once, can we make it through a family dinner without talking about someone’s death or near-death? It _always_ leads to an argument.”

“Sorry, Timbers.” Jason pointed at Jon. “But he started it.”

Jon frowned. “How did _I_ start it?”

Jason indicated his little brother. “You brought up his dead parents.”

Jon immediately looked concerned and confused. Bizarro’s expression echoed his youngest brother’s. Conner and Damian both glared at Jason. Tim face-palmed and sighed out his big brother’s name. Bruce’s reaction was largely the same as Tim’s, only he groaned rather than sighed. Clark and Lois both appeared slightly stunned at the comment. 

Jason moved just in time to catch the fork Damian attempted to jab into his thigh. 

Bruce immediately took the utensil from his youngest. “Damian, how many times do I have to tell you? Do _not_ stab your brothers.” Both his tone and expression were firm with just a hint of disappointment.

“It wouldn’t have killed him!” Damian argued, as though that were the sole issue with his action.

His father’s voice was steel when he responded. “I don’t care if the aim was to main or murder; _do not stab your brothers_.”

“He deserved it!” Damian defended his attempted-stabbing fiercely.

“He said something cruel.” Bruce’s tone made it clear he was not agreeing with his son’s logic. “There was still no need to escalate to violence. Next time, let _me_ handle it.”

Meanwhile, Jason ignored Damian and his father’s quiet but passionate argument, instead turning his focus on Jon. “Hey, kid, relax. It isn’t your fault. I was only kidding.”

The youngest Kent looked even more confused. “ _That_ was a joke?” He leaned into his father a bit when the man scooted closer and put an arm around him.

For his part, Clark seemed only concerned with his youngest child’s upset. He wasn’t directing any irritation or disappointment at Jason. Bruce continued to quietly scold Damian while Lois quietly spoke to a still-glaring Conner. His glare eased a little as he listened to his mother.

“Yeah, I have kind of a weird sense of humor. Dying and being resurrected will do that to you.” Jason continued eating his pie as if the conversation was completely normal. 

Jon didn’t look pacified. He actually managed to look even more puzzled. “Con died and came back. His sense of humor isn’t that weird…”

Conner shot another small glare at Jason as he responded to his little brother. “That’s because I wasn’t an asshole to begin with.”

“ _Conner_.” Lois’ mom voice was almost as frightening as Bruce’s Batman voice. It made her middle child apologize for his language right away. 

Jason looked thoughtful. “A good argument could probably be made to the contrary.” He held up a finger when Conner’s glare intensified and Tim put his face in both his hands and sighed out his name again. “ _But_ I’ve already upset one little brother tonight, so I’m not gonna upset the other by making that argument.”

Tim’s thanks was muffled by his hands. Meanwhile, Bruce had settled Damian down and Clark was quietly talking to Jon, who looked more calm and understanding of the situation. Once he had his youngest settled, Clark addressed everyone.

“You know, I think Tim might have had a point earlier.” Clark aborted a gesture toward the named boy when Tim’s expression clearly said ‘why are you bringing attention to me?’. Instead, the man gestured toward the table as he continued speaking to everyone else. “This isn’t the best subject for dinner table talk.” 

Clark looked down at their pie-filled plates. “Even when we’re just eating pie at the table. Anyway, we didn’t finish hearing about your Halloween plans.” He smiled gently at Tim as he included him again under the new subject. “Tim, I don’t think you said what your costume was gonna be?”

The boy looked slightly apologetic as he answered quietly. “Uh, a ghost.” 

Clark blinked at the answer. Tim continued looking apologetic and no one said anything for a moment. Then Lois started laughing quietly, which got Bizarro, Jason, and Jon laughing. Then, Clark joined in as well. The others grinned slightly, but didn’t laugh.

After he calmed, Clark grinned at everyone. “Okay, I walked right into that one.”

“Are we still having a pie taste-off?” Tim jumped in to change the subject with a little more success than Clark had before. Everyone had at least tasted each of their slices, and many had finished them. “Is everyone ready to vote?”

Lois commented on the new subject right away. “I _loved_ number three. There was this hint of maple that was really nice.”

Jason nodded. “It was _really_ good -I’m still trying to figure out which spices were in there- but I thought it was more of a mousse than a custard.”

“It was.” Lois agreed. “But that’s part of what I liked about it. It was smooth and silky.”

“I liked the first one the best.” Clark commented. 

Conner looked undecided about that. “I thought the first one was a little plain. It mostly just tasted like mashed pumpkin.”

“It’s pumpkin pie.” Clark countered, grinning at his son. “Its _supposed_ to taste like pumpkin.”

“Me like all the pies.” Bizarro added unhelpfully. He’d cleaned his plate and taken the crust from his youngest brother’s as well.

“You didn’t like one just a _little_ better than the rest?” Conner encouraged his big brother to think about it. “It doesn’t mean you didn’t like them all. It just means you preferred one over another. Like, if we were going to have one of these pies after dinner each night this week, which would you want first?”

Bizarro appeared to be thinking on that for a moment. His younger brother didn’t press any further, clearly giving him time to think on it.

“The fifth was the best.” Damian stated with assurance. “Followed by the second, then the fourth, then the third, and the first was the least enjoyable.”

“No way!” Jon was the first to counter his friend. “The second was the best, then the third, then the fifth, then the fourth. The first was definitely last though. Con’s right, it tasted like mashed pumpkin in a crust.”

Jason nodded at that last statement and offered his opinion next. “I liked the fourth the best. Then the third, then the fifth, then the second, and yeah, the first was the weak link.”

Damian frowned at both his best friend and his big brother. “The second didn’t hold together as well as the fifth. And the third was well seasoned but as Todd pointed out, pumpkin is supposed to be a custard pie and it was more of a custard-mousse hybrid.”

“Me like hybrid pie.” Bizarro commented. “It different, but good. Hybrid pie me favorite. Then grandma pie, then last and second to last pie tied. First not bad but not so good.”

Jason turned to Tim and spoke quietly. “Was the second really Grandma Kent’s pie?”

Damian heard it though, and interrupted before his brother could answer. “Hey, no telling until we finished voting the best!”

“Okay, jeesh.” Jason arched a brow at his youngest brother. “You definitely get that controlling thing from Dad.” 

Bruce smiled at the assessment. As did Clark.

“I liked the hybrid pie too.” Jon crossed his arms, prepared for his best friend to argue. “Pumpkin pie is just a pie with pumpkin as the main ingredient and the third tasted like really good pumpkin pie.”

Bruce spoke up then. “Maybe we should rate them on a piece of paper and then tally it up rather than debate?”

Clark smiled at his friend. “Yeah, I think that might be the best way to do this too.”

Lois moved to the china hutch, where she had one of her many notebooks stashed. She tore out pieces of paper for everyone and passed them out along with pencils. “Everyone write down the order you liked the pies in, and then pass the sheets down to Tim. He’ll add all their scores together and the one with the lowest number wins.”

“Why is _he_ tallying them?” Damian spoke even as he wrote down his votes.

Jason shot his youngest sibling a warning glance, but sounded like any teasing big brother when he responded. “Because he’s the only one who knows which pie was which, genius.”

“Damian, Jason, _behave_. Or this will be the last time you have Alfred’s pumpkin pie until Thanksgiving.” Bruce didn’t even look up from what he was writing as he offered the level chiding. 

Tim tallied the pie ranks together quickly once he received everyone’s votes. “Well, first and second were really close, there was only one point difference…” He looked slightly embarrassed as he continued. “First place was mine; second was Martha Kent’s; third was Alfred’s; fourth was Jason's; and fifth was Jon and Lois’.” 

Damian crossed his arms. “Your vote shouldn’t count, Drake, as you knew which pies were which from the start!”

“I didn’t vote.” Tim looked at his younger brother with an arched brow and indicated the plate in front of him, which had only had one slice of pie to begin with and was still half full. “I didn’t even try all of the pies. Remember the dairy thing we talked about?”

“Then are you certain you calculated correctly?” Damian frowned petulantly. “How could Pennyworth come in third?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure.” He held the paper he’d transferred each of the votes to for easy calculation out for Damian to take. “Look for yourself. He was ranked third by more people than anyone else, with only you and Bruce voting his as number one, so he had the middle number overall.”

Bruce grinned at his second youngest. “How did you know I voted Alfred’s as number one?” 

Tim shrugged lightly. “I know your handwriting.”

“Wait.” Jason smirked and looked at his little brother. “Don’t you know _everyone’s_ handwriting here?” 

Tim answered casually. “Not Lois’.”

“But you were able to determine hers through elimination.” Jason laughed when Tim simply nodded in response.

Damian looked up from the paper he’d been frowning upon. “Who are the three that voted yours number one?”

Bruce snatched the sheet of paper from his youngest. “Damian, it was a secret vote for a reason. I appreciate your devotion to Alfred, but its poor sportsmanship to argue just because you don’t like the results. You can see here that his placement was fair. I’m sure Alfred will be pleased by the results when we tell him.” 

Once it was clear Damian was going to drop the argument, Bruce smiled at his second youngest. “Congratulations, Tim. Alfred will be proud.”

“Thanks, Bruce.” While he wasn’t making a big deal out of it -likely not wanting to hear Damian complain any more- Tim looked quietly pleased. 

They continued talking about Halloween. The boys made a loose plan for the night and traded ideas for their costumes, with their parents chiming in from time to time. There were some recipe swaps and tips. Mainly, Lois wanted to know how Tim had achieved the texture of his pie and how Jason had spiced his. Then the boys settled into the living room to play some games and drink hot chocolate while their parents talked in the den. Finally, the Wayne’s returned to Gotham to get started on their patrols. 

Bruce didn’t hear much else about Halloween from Jason or Tim, but he took Damian to a costume shop and helped him find everything he wanted for his costume.

Bruce also decided that Damian should take the full night off, even if his brothers weren’t. He used to feel comfortable bringing a child into the nightmare that was a Gotham Halloween. He didn’t anymore. Unfortunately, Damian was the only one he could make that call with these days. At least he’d know _one_ of his children was safe.

Naturally, his youngest wasn’t very happy about being told he wasn’t allowed to go out as Robin on one of the busiest nights of the year and he didn’t keep that fact hidden. 

Bruce remained calm as he explained the best he could without triggering Damian’s need to prove himself superior. “It isn’t a punishment, son. I’d rather you stayed at the Kents, enjoying yourself for a night, then have you face the worst Gotham has to offer on a night they all feel free to let their dark sides out completely. I know its hard for you to understand, but its a difficult line for me; finding the balance between raising a child and training a partner. I’ve messed up in the past, with your siblings and with you. I don’t want to make those same mistakes again.

“You’re my son first and foremost. This is a choice I’m making as your father. I need you to respect that.” He watched his youngest child carefully. “Can I trust you to stay at the Kents and not get into any trouble?”

“Very well, Father. If it means so much to you that you prepared a full speech, I’ll spend the night at Jon’s.” Damian's body language was slightly put out and his tone was bored, but his eyes had a pleased gleam to them. He never liked being sidelined, or told what to do in general, but he _loved_ being acknowledged as his father’s child. He always had that gleam whenever Bruce made it clear he was acting as his father rather than partner or instructor. 

Bruce was confident that Damian meant it. Lois was going to be home the night of Halloween and Clark was planing to be home in the later evening, provided that the world allowed it. Alfred would be at the Manor, monitoring the family as best he could. If his son did try anything, there were enough adults keeping a watch out for it that he should be covered. He didn’t tell Damian any of that though. He simply thanked him for understanding. 

Jason, Tim, and Damian arrived at the Kent’s house early on Halloween. They all changed into their costumes. Tim put Conner’s Dracula makeup on and then put on his own. Lois helped Bizarro. Jason had already put his on, with a little help from Tim, before leaving their apartment. That way, Bruce and Alfred got to see it when they picked Damian up at the Manor. 

Damian had practiced drawing the pharaoh makeup in his sketchbook, but discovered that trying to draw it on himself via a mirror was a more difficult task. He was agitated that he couldn't get it to look right, but surprised everyone by refusing Lois’ assistance, insisting instead that Tim do it. He received some warnings to be less demanding of his brother, but Tim put on his makeup for him anyway. 

“Is there any reason why you didn’t want Lois to help you?” Tim kept his voice low as he applied the makeup around Damian’s left eye. “ _Don’t_ glare. You have to keep your eyes still if you want this to look right.”

Damian released a harsh breath but kept his expression neutral so his brother could continue without issue. He likewise kept his voice too low for Lois to hear the conversation in the other room. “I know I’m not meant to make certain assumptions about others -Pennyworth has even included special lessons in my Social Studies curriculum- but I’ve found most Caucasian people’s interpretation of ethnic garb to be lacking in authenticity. I don’t know anything about Lane’s knowledge of ancient Egypt. I didn’t want to risk looking like a caricature.”

“Fair enough.” Tim titled his head slightly in understanding. Then he wore a small grin. “But you know I’m Caucasian too, right? I mean, its kinda hard to miss…” 

“Obviously.” Damian's expression didn’t change, but his voice was dripping with irritation. “Still, I said _most_ , and my Father didn’t take in _average_ children, at least.” His nose scrunched slightly as if the thought of his father taking in such children was too much for him to consider while remaining perfectly still. 

“You’ve proven yourself appropriately suited for such a task. You have a heightened level of attention to detail, you’re a history nerd, your mother was an archaeologist and you studied her work.” He sniffed, as though allergic to paying his brother something close to a compliment. “Your end product might not be as good as mine would have been, but it should be perfectly sufficient.”

Tim switched to his brother’s other eye. He released a small huff of air. “Okay… Thanks?”

“I wasn’t paying you a compliment. I was merely pointing out why you are best suited for the task.” Damian's tone switched from acerbic to what passed for casual with him, as he continued. “Besides, while I’m sure Jon’s mother isn’t a threat, its never wise to let potentially untrustworthy individuals near your eyes with sharp objects.”

Tim simply nodded at the latest _almost_ compliment from his acrimonious brother. “Can’t argue with that.” He carefully traced the line of Damian's eye with one of the pencils that had been sharpened to a fine point before switching to one of the powders to fill in his eyelid. He continued working in silence until he finished.

“There.” Tim took a step back to check his brother’s makeup once more. “That looks pretty good, I think.” He handed Damian the mirror he’d used to do his own makeup. “Take a look.”

Damian took a long look at the makeup. He looked as pleased as ever. “See? Perfectly sufficient, as I expected.”

Tim wore a tiny smile at that. “Glad you like it.” He motioned to ward the ‘mummy’ part of the costume Damian had brought. “Do you want a hand with the wrappings? Its probably easier to do with two people.” He paused while his brother considered. 

It looked like Damian wanted to accept the assistance, but was trying to think of a practical excuse for why he’d allow _Tim_ to help, just as he had with the makeup. 

“It isn’t like the mummies wrapped themselves.” Tim shrugged. “I’m already here. Lois is helping Jon with his costume and Jason’s helping Bizarro. Why wait on them?”

“Very well.” Damian took out a sketchbook to show Tim what he’d had in mind with the wrappings. He wanted something that made it clear he was a mummy while also not hiding the fact that he was a pharaoh. It was all pretty clear to Tim, but he listened as his brother explained the obvious and then helped him with his costume. By the time they were done, Damian’s vision had definitely been fulfilled.

Tim could see Damian struggling with whether to thank him or not. Most likely, he was looking for a way to thank him without putting too fine a point on it while also not crossing over into insult. Tim decided to let him off the hook. “Looks cool. I’m going to go find Con again.

“Call if you need a hand with anything else.” He said the last he walked out the door with a small wave behind him. He didn’t wait for Damian to respond. 

They were all ready shortly after that. Lois took a group photo and gave her sons one last reminder to stay together and not to take anything that looked suspicious. Then, the boys headed to the more condensed part of the area. 

The houses were all decorated, just as Jon had said. Some had themes, like cemeteries or pumpkin patches. Others just had an array of Halloween staples around. Several had interactive elements, and a few had turned their barns in to full-on haunted houses, while others had either grown corn mazes specifically for Halloween or had adapted their own corn to fit the bill. The Kents' neighbors were very generous with the candy and many of them had games set in their yards or covered porches that they invited the kids (and accompanying adults) to partake in. 

Also as promised by Jon, the Hawthornes gave out full sized candy bars, which surprised each of the Waynes (whom they insisted take one each, despite Jason and Tim’s attempts to politely decline). Mrs Garray recognized Conner and made a show of guessing who each of his brothers were in the group. Jon and Bizarro enjoyed it and she gave each of the boys one of her (apparently famous) homemade popcorn balls. She also gave Conner and Jason a couple to bring home to their parents. Jason didn’t correct her when she assumed he’d need two. Not only did he not want to have that discussion with a virtual stranger, but he and his siblings fully believed that Alfred deserved the title and planned to give him the other treat. 

The first haunted barn was fun. None of them were frightened, but they liked the atmosphere and the decorations. Tim paused to check out an urn he was fairly certain was actually an antique and accidentally frightened a group of preteens who’d thought he was a ghost statue when he turned to speak to Conner. A man dressed as Dracula joked that it was ‘like looking in a mirror’ when he saw Conner, despite the fact that he didn’t cut nearly as impressive a figure as the teenager. He then cracked up when Jason pretended not to be able to tell which was which when they left.

There was an issue with the second haunted house that became apparent pretty quickly; the ghosts and ghouls weren’t just present, they jumped out to scare the kids as they passed. Jason caught Damian’s ankle before he could kick the first costumed ghost that jumped out at them. He puled his youngest sibling away while Tim made a joke about it not being wise to startle the kids who were taking martial arts classes. The man who had nearly taken a foot to the face laughed, commenting that ‘the little guy must be getting tired’. Tim assured him that he’d only startled Damian when the man worried he might have scared him more than intended for fun. Conner found the whole thing hilarious.

One of the haunted mazes had costumed actors that not only jumped out, but occasionally grabbed passersby. Jason and Tim took to walking ahead and stopping the costumed actors before they could grab their little brother, who might attack them on instinct or do to any perceived insult. They ended up claiming that Damian had a disorder as a way to quickly get the men and women to understand that they had to lay off him. Bizarro and Conner remained with Jon and Damian, just in case, but they got through it without any issues. They all managed to have a good time, especially Bizarro, Jon, and -no matter how unimpressed he tried to appear- Damian. 

Tim and Jason both immediately stated they were not going into a circus themed haunted house they came across. Neither of them could guarantee they’d keep their cool if one of the creepy clowns made any sudden moves. Only Jason and Conner could pick up on them, but Tim was showing some telltale signs of distress just looking at the creepy clown waiting on the outside who was trying to summon them in. They told their friends and brother they could go ahead without them, but they each decided to pass it up instead. Not wanting to make a fuss about it, they all decided to check out some of the games and focus on trick or treating for a while. 

They had several people compliment their costumes, some even asked for photos out on the streets. Both Jason and Conner received several phone numbers, while Bizarro and Tim’s costumes tended to leave people in awe or creeped out, respectively. A few people asked after one or the other’s skin, wanting to know which brand of makeup they’d used or if they’d blended some to achieve the look. Tim gave the brand of the actual airbrush machine and makeup he normally used, despite not wearing it that night. Bizarro initially commented that he didn’t know, but eventually started giving the same brand as Tim since most people moved on with a final compliment once they got an answer. 

At one point, a woman dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein stopped to pose for a photo with Bizarro and clearly appreciated his muscles and smile up close. She planted a kiss on cheek before parting ways with a flirtatious wave that left the eldest Kent blushing. Jason laughed for a solid five minutes when a couple girls Conner was clearly trying to flirt with complimented him and Tim on a great ‘couple’s costume idea’ before saying they were going to steal the concept next Halloween. 

Jon and Damian got plenty of candy, with many of the parents passing out treats thinking Damian’s snobbery was part of his pharaoh character. Jon pulled his friend away before he could correct any of them. Even though they weren’t really trick or treating, some of the candy-givers insisted that their big brothers take some too. Many seemed charmed that the older boys were taking their little brothers out and had even dressed as a theme with them. A few assured them that they weren’t too old for it, especially Tim, whom most seemed to think was younger than he actually was.

They all entered a pumpkin decorating contest that involved painting pumpkins. Damian got third place, Bizarro got second, Tim got fourth, and Jon came in fifth out of the dozen contestants. Meanwhile Jason took second on a pumpkin carving contest he entered by himself, since minors weren’t allowed. Damian was irritated at the suggestion that he was too young to be trusted with a knife, but Tim quietly explained that it was an insurance thing and not a question of competence, which the younger boy accepted. The others all rooted Jason on during the timed contest. 

Damian passed on bobbing for apples, as did Tim, but the others each took a turn. Tim had recently been sick and didn’t want to chance catching anything after the reminder of what a simple bacteria could do to his compromised immune system, while Damian simply cited that the game was disgusting. Jon talked Damian into entering a donut eating contest though, wherein they had to eat dangling Halloween donuts off strings that were tied around them. Damian didn’t understand the point, but his competitive nature meant that he jumped into the contest with gusto anyway. They took second and third place.

Jason and Tim didn’t like the look of one of the people passing out candy, and told Damian and Jon not to go to that house. Bizarro and Conner used their x-ray vision to check the house and discovered the party going on inside included some heavy drug use that was definitely tainting the candy. Tim left an anonymous tip to the police, while Jason and Conner passed a warning along to some of the nearby parents and older siblings that were taking kids out. Word spread around quickly and the yard and porch were emptied before the police even arrived, which happened a lot quicker in Metropolis than it did in Gotham. 

They also stopped a few incidents of bullying they came across. The older four broke up a fight that started outside one of the houses that Damian and Jon were getting treats from. Jason and Tim stopped a burglary in progress at one of the empty houses. Conner joked that wherever Waynes went, they couldn’t help but find trouble to fix. None of them argued. 

A couple dressed as Nefertiti and Anck Su Namun from The Mummy had the ‘Thriller’ scene from Scared Shreckless projecting onto their garage door in a loop and were teaching kids how to do the dance on their lawn. When they saw Damian grab his candy from the self serve bowl they’d put on their porch, both women immediately cooed over his adorable costume and insisted they be allowed to teach him to dance. Since none of the boys knew how to do it, they all decided to stay for a little while and learn. Damian was a little stiff, Jon tripped twice, Conner kept getting distracted by the women’s costumes and nearly knocked into Tim, Tim kept having to dodge his best friend without disrupting anyone else, Bizarro’s rhythm was a little off, Jason unsurprisingly nailed it pretty quickly. They each caught on well enough after a few run throughs though and, more importantly, they all ended up having fun with it. 

After dancing for a while (and the older boys even helped some of the other kids learn the dance), they decided to hit a few more houses and then return to the Kents’ home, since it was nearing Jon’s curfew for the night and Bizarro was getting tired. 

Bizarro was torn between not wanting to walk any more than necessary and getting more candy at the last houses, so Tim volunteered to take his bag up. He didn’t get any strange looks when he requested treats, unlike Bizarro, so it worked out better anyway. Having one of his brothers beside him also ensured that Damian didn’t respond as poorly should the treat-giver say anything he took as an insult.

“Why, look how adorable you all are!” One woman answered the door with a big smile. “And your costumes are so inventive! Did you put them together yourselves or did your moms help you?”

Damian’s expression made it clear that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to cut the woman down. Tim elbowed him and spoke quietly in Farsi. “Refrain. Remember what Dick always says: don’t scare the townies.”

Instead of whatever he’d been about to say, Damian simply glared while Jon and Tim chimed, “Trick or treat!”

“Imbecile.” Damian muttered as they left the house. Tim simply shook his head, not commenting but clearly not thinking his brother was that out of line.

“She was just being nice,” Jon responded. 

Damian arched a brow at his friend. “My mother impregnated herself with me solely as an attempt to win my father’s devotion and to gain my grandfather’s favor by providing a worthy heir. Drake’s useless mother was murdered by a combination of heat exposure and poison. How was asking after our mothers ‘nice’?”

Jon raised his brows. Then he bit his lip and thought for a second. “Well, how would _she_ know that?”

“She couldn’t.” Damian glared slightly at no one in particular. “Which is why she should have simply left off the assumption involving our mothers.” He crossed his arms as regally as he could while carrying his candy pail, which he’d customized to look like an incense lamp. 

Meanwhile, Tim arched a brow at the youngest Kent in question. “Is the idea of a single dad or an orphaned child that foreign around here?”

“That’s precisely my point.” Damian indicated his brother as he addressed his friend. “Why would that woman assume our ‘moms’ assisted us? She didn’t even _consider_ that such an assumption might be hurtful or awkward.”

“Well, to be fair, everyone around here has a mom.” Jon frowned. He patted Damian’s shoulder. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Dami.”

“She _didn’t_! I don’t care what riffraff such as she thinks enough to be _hurt_ by it. Its the _principle_.” Damian huffed and looked at his friend side-eyed. “And its Dami _an_.”

Jon’s brows rose and he was clearly fighting a grin. “You’re _awfully_ grumpy for someone who’s feelings weren’t hurt…”

By the end of that statement, they’d reached their big brothers, who each frowned upon catching the end of the discussion. 

“Who’s feelings were hurt?” Conner looked over his brother and then his best friend.

“And who hurt them?” Jason asked, crossing his arms, looking over both his little brothers and Jon. 

Bizarro’s frown morphed into a firm look. “Someone hurt Blue-Pup? Little Red? Angry Him?”

“No need to form a posse, guys.” Tim quickly tried to settle the others down. “The woman at the house made a comment without thinking, assuming our moms helped with our costumes. Damian and I thought it was a little callus, is all.”

Jon frowned slightly at the phrasing. “Damian called her an imbecile.”

Tim jumped in before Jason could scold their younger brother. “Not to her face. After we were out of earshot.”

Jason nodded, looking relieved. “Ah. No big deal then.”

Damian looked slightly surprised that his brothers weren’t bothered by his response at all. That Tim had even lumped himself in with Damian in his response to the woman. That Jason considered his insulting the woman ‘no big deal’ providing it was out of hearing range.

Jason clearly caught the surprise. “Hey, some people are going to say stupid shit. Reacting to it is fine…so long as it doesn’t lead to me getting a call from Dad because some dipshit called to complain that you were rude while on my watch. And you know someone who was stupid enough to ask after a strange kid’s mom isn’t going to acknowledge she deserved it. That’s one of the perks of having siblings; you always have someone to bitch to after dealing with assholes.” 

Tim nodded his agreement. “I don’t even like to bitch as much as you two do, and that’s a huge source of relief.” He gave a small, graceful shrug when Damian looked both curious and suspicious. “Its nice to know there’s always someone who’ll listen.” He nodded toward the Kents. “Friends are good for that too, of course.”

“Yeah, Damian.” Jon agreed immediately. “You can always call me if someone hurts your feelings and you need to talk about it.”

Damian frowned. “She did _not_ hurt my feelings. I was merely incised by her lack of etiquette.” 

“And you had plenty of reason to be pissed, but eventually, you need to learn to let that shit go.” Jason motioned for his little brother to keep moving. “C’mon. Biz is getting tired and me and Tim need to head home soon. You still want to hit more houses before we call it a night?”

Damian glanced at Jon, who looked excited. Then Jon looked from his friend to his eldest brother. “Can we go to just a couple more?!”

Damian crossed his arms and raised his head. “Very well. A couple more houses won’t be a bother.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to act like you haven’t been enjoying this. You can have fun once in a while, you know. Even _Dad_ has fun sometimes. Sort of. Rarely.” 

He shrugged and tilted his head. “Still, you can be better than him.” He smirked down at Damian. “You know Dick’s a big fan of having fun.”

“Ttch. Just because I am _close_ to Richard doesn’t mean I intend to emulate him.” Damian glared slightly at Jason's smirking face. “I plan to be my own man.” 

Jason laughed quietly. “Yeah, right. You just _happened_ to cut your hair almost exactly the way he used to wear it when he was Robin after seeing one of Tim’s photos. No emulation there at all.”

“Its functional and suits my face.” Damian was definitely pouting. Jason was grinning. 

Jon draped an arm over his friend’s shoulders. “I think your new hairstyle looks good. Hey, the Axelsons are giving out cupcakes.” He removed his arm from his slightly glaring friend and pointed to a nearby house before looking up at Conner. “Can we get one?”

“You can _get_ one but you can’t _eat_ it until Dad signs off on it.” Conner ruffled the hair at the top of his little brother’s head. “We don’t know the Axelsons that well and its a little late for cupcakes anyway.”

Jon rolled his eyes. “Mom and Dad said I could have some candy tonight after they’ve checked it.”

Conner grinned. “Yeah, the part where they’re checking it first is the fundamental part of that statement. Besides, you already had a candy apple, some hot chocolate, a funnel cake spider web, and a few donuts tonight. I think you’re good on the sugar front for now.”

Jon and Damian got cupcakes. The latter gave his to Bizarro since he didn’t want his father to have to go through all the trouble of checking it when he was certain Alfred’s would taste better anyway. Conner ended up holding both of his brothers’ cupcakes while Jon and Damian trick or treated at their final houses because his brothers would have crushed them. When they had to walk back to the car, Tim volunteered to carry one for his best friend. 

Jon excitedly offered to trade Damian something from his candy bucket for some caramel candies he’d noticed his best friend had gotten. 

“Didn’t you get any?” Damian asked as he peered into his friend’s bucket. 

“Yeah, but caramel’s my favorite. ‘Sides, that’s part of the fun of trick or treating together. We get to trade so we both get more of what we like best.” Jon looked into his bucket as well. “What’s your favorite type of candy?”

Damian considered that for a moment. They didn’t have a lot of candy at the Manor. After a moment, he commented, “I enjoy coconut or spiced fruits.”

“Cool. I’ll trade you an Almond Joy for a Payday.” Jon held out the candy. After noting that there was a picture of a coconut on the wrapper, Damian made the trade. “Wanna trade that peanut chew for either a pack of chewy sweet tarts or a giant sour patch kid? They’re fruit flavored.”

After looking over both packages, Damian selected the sweet tarts for the trade. Then both boys grinned and proceeded to go through their candy hauls as best they could in the back-most seat of the Lincoln MKT Jason had borrowed from Bruce for the night. They made several more trades by the time they reached the Kents’ home.

“’Kay, brat, we’re going to head home.” Jason ruffled Damian’s hair once his youngest brother removed the headdress he’d been wearing in the Kents’ living room. “You better stay here all night, or Dad’s going to be _pissed_.”

Damian swatted his brother’s hand away and made an irritated sound. “Father already made it clear that he’d prefer me to stay here until he comes to retrieve me tomorrow.” He made a shooing motion with his hand once he got some distance between himself and Jason. “Now, be gone with you.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Tim shook his head but gave a small wave as Damian and Jon moved to leave the room to clean up. “You packed your fidget spinner, right? And you know how to get in touch with us if you get into any trouble?”

“I am perfectly capable of preparing for a sleepover, and I’m sure I won’t need to, but yes to both.” Damian didn’t even turn as he reached the stairs. “Goodbye, Drake, Todd.”

“Yeah, it was nice going out with you too, brat!” Jason called as Damian disappeared up the stairs. He shook his head and then motioned for Tim to follow him. “C’mon. I’m driving.”

Tim made a sarcastic remark about the fact that Jason always drove before saying goodnight to Conner. “Watch out for him. Damian on a sugar high is…unpleasant.”

His friend scoffed. “Damian _not_ on a sugar high is unpleasant. I’m guessing that means Damian on a sugar high is annoying as hell.”

“Just try not to set him off. Please?” Tim smiled when his best friend relented. “I’ll text you later. I had fun tonight.”

“Me too.” Conner called out one last reminder as Tim and Jason left. “Remember you can always call if you need backup out there.”

Unlike his brother, Tim turned. He nodded once and replied, “Same to you.”

“That goes for me too.” Clark spoke from the kitchen doorway. He smiled at the two boys when they stopped near the front door. “I know you Waynes like to handle everything yourselves whenever possible, and I respect that, honestly. I just want you to know I’m here if you need help. And not just tonight; anytime.”

Both of the Wayne’s looked surprised and mildly suspicious. Jason was leaning more to the latter while Tim was clearly experiencing more of the former. They looked at each other and appeared to share some silent sibling communication before responding. 

"Sure.” Jason gave a small nod while Tim said, “Thanks, Clark.” Then they both left the Kent house. 

They drove straight to Gotham, parking Bruce’s car at their apartment and then heading to the Red Bunker. They changed into their suits and wasted no time in heading out. Tim contacted Kate on the usual comms to let her know they were back. She briefly filled them in on how the night was going and then told them to text her if they needed her or Renee to ditch their party and come back. 

It sounded like it had been a normal Halloween night in Gotham, so neither Tim or Jason were too worried. They were prepared to be sore and exhausted by the time the sun came up the next day, though. 

Gotham met the expectation.

For most of the night, Batman, Red Hood, and Red Robin worked apart, stopping the many smaller crimes that always came with the holiday. Gangs and a few smalltime Rogues always tried to make their mark on Halloween. Criminals of opportunity were awarded plenty of targets with all the people who were out late, either taking their kids or sibling trick or treating, going from one party to the next, hitting the clubs, or just enjoying the festivities and costumes all around town. There were always a few Halloween balls hosted among the upper-class on and around the holiday, and nothing drew in thieves like a large number of rich people heading home later after overindulging in spirits and sweets. Then, of course, there were the deranged individuals who practiced much darker deeds on that night. 

They stayed in near-constant contact the whole night. Jason and Tim actually spoke to each other over comms as if they were together even while apart. Bruce listened in on them from time to time, but only interrupted when he needed a hand. One or both of his sons always came to help, and Jason and Tim teamed up quite a lot over the course of the evening.

It was nearly two in the morning before a true threat (by their usual standards) came around. 

Jason had just interrupted a mugging in an alleyway when Tim’s comm opened. Immediately, he heard the sound of bullets striking Inertrite. That sound never failed to send a shock of dread through him. It meant bullets were striking his little brother’s armor. Instead of a snappy one-liner or word of warning, Jason simply punched the mugger in the jaw, fracturing it and executing a nerve strike that rendered the man unconscious before he even hit the ground.

And before he hit the ground, Jason had fired his grappling gun and took to the rooftops. He was running for his bike as Tim’s voice cut through the sound of gunfire. His little brother was clearly focused and in motion (likely dodging fire) as he spoke. 

“Red, code nine-B. Target unknown. KGBeast. South from Finger Tower.”

“On my way.” Jason was working through the fastest route that would get him there in his head when his father’s voice came over the line. 

“Red Hood, what’s happening? You’re running like the hounds of hell are after you.”

Jason didn’t slow down as he answered. “Red’s in trouble. He interrupted an assassination by the KGBeast. He’s in pursuit and taking heavy fire.” He used his grapple to drop himself down to his bike a lot faster than was probably wise. 

“Where?” He could hear his father’s footsteps echoing when he responded. Clearly, he was already on his way to the Batmobile. 

Jason was already peeling out of the alley he’d stashed his bike in earlier. “Heading South from Finger Tower. Moving fast. It’ll take me four, maybe five minutes just to get that far. Coming from the East.”

“I’m North of him.” The Batmobile’s engine roared to life as Bruce sped out from wherever he’d parked it. “I’ll be there in eight to ten minutes.”

Jason switched to the line he and Tim normally used. He didn’t hear gunshots any more, but he did hear the sounds of a fight. He wasn’t sure how relieved he should be. The KGBeast wasn’t an easy fight for any member of their family, and he didn’t know how the whole ‘being shot multiple times’ thing from before had worked out for his little brother. “Red, update.” 

“About a…” The sound of Tim’s bo staff striking metal rang out. “…Block South from last time.”

That added a little more time to Jason’s ETA.

“Managed…not to get…shot.” Tim was obviously dodging, blocking, and landing a few blows as he spoke. “Trying not to…get grabbed or…skewered. Hang on…got an idea…”

Shortly after that, a roar-like shout rang out over the line, followed quickly by some Russian swearing. KGBeast must have been very close to Tim, or remarkably loud, because Jason could hear him clearly trough the comms. “I am slaughtering you like piglet, child! You are to be rendered limb from weedy limb!”

“Crap, I…think I…pissed him off.” There were the sounds of blows being exchanged, then metal striking stone. “I pulled the ocular piece…off his suit.” Tim grunted over the sound of flesh striking flesh. The sound of air cutting across Tim’s mic meant he’d either flipped or fallen very quickly. “It was connected…to his…optic nerves. Its really…gross.”

Gross or not, ripping the guy’s cybernetic pieces out meant he wouldn’t be able to tear Tim apart. Jason was all for whichever method meant his little brother remained in one piece. “Keep it up until I get there. It won’t kill him. ETA: two minutes.”

There was the sound of a heavy blow landing, then some more air movement, quickly followed by the sound of Tim’s body forcefully colliding with a solid surface and a hiss as the air was knocked out of him. Then Jason heard Tim struggling to take calm breaths while some mechanical parts were moving.

“Red, update.”

Tim tried to say something, but still hadn’t recovered from having the wind knocked out of him enough to do so coherently. He might have said ‘busy’ or ‘bust knee’. 

“Red?”

A shot fired.

“Red?!”

His little brother quietly breathed out the word “Crap.”

“Little Red, _update_!”

“Call an ambulance.” Tim’s voice was still a little tight, but he sounded more worried than injured. “I fired a taser pellet into his eye socket. The result was…more than I anticipated. I expected it to short out his cybernetics and kill his enhancements for a while. Instead, he’s unresponsive. 

“Got a pulse.” Tim sounded disturbed when he continued. “I can’t tell if the stuff coming out of his eye socket is from his biological body or the cybernetics. Its a white, viscous fluid. I’m going to run it.” He didn’t sound pleased by the idea of messing with the unknown substance coming out of KGBeast’s unconscious body. 

“Just leave it. I’ll have B send an ambulance.” Jason switched the comm channel immediately. “Batman, send an ambulance to Red Robin’s location. KGBeast is down. I’m getting Little Red.”

Bruce’s voice was firm, rough. If Jason didn’t know him so well, it would have sounded just like his Batman growl. Since he did, he heard the hint of concern.“Does _he_ need medic-”

“Not that he’s asking for.” Considering that he’d been shot -even if his suit preventing the bullets from penetrating his body-, slammed or thrown into something solid, and struck at least twice by the KGBeast, Jason wasn’t going to assume Tim was fine. He also didn’t want to put too fine a point on his own concern since Bruce had been reacting more like a father lately and Tim wouldn’t know how to deal with a worried father when it was directed at himself. “He’s concerned that he might have hurt the KGBeast more than he intended. Thinks he might have shorted him out with a taser pellet.”

“I’ll take care of KGBeast. You check on Red Robin.” That was standard Batman, taking control. Apparently, his worry had been appeased by Jason’s comments.

Jason switched back to the line Tim was on. “Batman’s on his way. He’s calling it in. How you holding up?”

“Pretty good.” Tim sounded a little surprised by that. Then his tone was all business again. “I’m going to double back. See if I can figure out who he was targeting.”

The code Tim had used before meant that he’d interrupted an attempted assassination before the killer could act. Considering the KGBeast’s stealth, as well as Tim’s, it was likely that the target had no idea they’d nearly been murdered. Which meant, they had no reason to run away. It had only been about five minutes since Tim called it in, which likely happened within seconds of him interrupting the assassination attempt. It was logical to think they might be able to locate the target.

However, Tim jumping right back into detective mode after he’d been shot (even if his armor held), punched, and thrown around a rooftop was less logical. Jason got it, the need to see it through. But he also wanted to make sure his little brother wasn’t pushing himself too hard. That was one of the perks of them partnering up, he’d found. They generally stopped each other from doing anything too foolish. Of course, Jason’s foolish was usually very different from Tim’s foolish, but the point still stood. 

He wanted to check his little brother out before he could potentially hurt himself. 

“Meet me on Finger Tower. We’ll move together from there.” He trusted Tim to understand what he was asking. 

The beat of silence that followed told Jason he was right. Tim sounded understanding when he responded. “Okay.” He sounded slightly pleased when he added, “Thanks, Red.”

Tim’s suit had definitely taken a beating and the boy was going to feel the affects of the fight for the next couple of weeks after that night, but he truly did seem okay when Jason caught up to him on the designated rooftop. They headed to the building Tim had first spotted KGBeast on. By matching the angle he’d had his weapon in, they were able to determine the building and floor his target had been occupying. There appeared to be an office party taking place there, so it was impossible to say precisely who the target had been at a glance. 

Tim started using the computer built into his suit. “I’m going to see what business is renting that space and who works there.”

Jason nodded. Nothing about any of the party-goers stood out to him. He opened the comm to speak to Batman. “You with KGBeast yet?”

“He’s secured.” It sounded like that was all Bruce intended to say, but he clearly thought better of it and decided to elaborate a little. “And stable. EMTs are on their way up. GCPD aren’t far behind them.”

Tim sounded a little relieved to hear it as he spoke over the comm while going through his preliminary search results. “There’s some evidence here. He didn’t have time to grab his tripod or coat before he took off. I already got what we need from it.”

Bruce sounded pleased (or the Batman version of pleased, which his Robins were all skilled at detecting) by the response. “I’ll inform Gordon.”

From what little he could make of the now-more-complex search Tim was running, Jason could see his little brother was onto something. “With KGBeast captured, whoever he was gunning for is probably safe for tonight. But we still need to know what this was about. Why don’t you head to the Bunker so you can track them down? I’m going to keep patrolling.”

“I can set the Red-Computer to search by remote and stay out here.” Tim was quickly typing something into the touchscreen hidden in his gauntlet as he responded. 

“We get results faster when you run them yourself.” It was true, but Jason also thought his little brother should take it easy for the remainder of the evening if possible. He’d had his armor take a few bullets before and been knocked around by an unnaturally strong opponent. He knew how quickly it caught up with you once the adrenaline and sense of urgency wore off. The night was starting to wind down, there was no need for Tim to push himself. 

Tim paused to consider his brother’s words, and likely the words he didn’t speak, before giving a short nod of acceptance. “Alright. But keep in touch…and call me out if you need backup.”

“Always do.” It was true. Jason thought they could be fighting on opposite sides of the world at this point and he would still be talking to Tim over comms all the while. He was also better about calling in backup these days, especially Tim. He doubted he would need any that night. 

He’d been wrong.

One of the problems of being a vigilante in Gotham on Halloween, was that nearly every criminal encountered was wearing a costume of some sort. Determining whether any specific criminal was just trying to blend in, was committing a crime of opportunity, was a henchmen to a Rogue, or was the usual costumed lunatic, was nearly impossible until the criminal was already engaged. 

This meant that Jason couldn’t make any of the usual assumptions he would when he saw what appeared to be a mugger wearing a skimpy brown rabbit costume and gloves. His first thought was that she looked like a sexy March Hare, and anything that reminded him of Alice in Wonderland -and therefore, the Mad Hatter- was definitely on his shit list these days. But he couldn’t be sure until he’d engaged the thief.

Interrupting the mugging was simple enough, only because Jason had extensive experience in doing so. The thief had her victim at gunpoint, so the trick was ensuring that he didn’t get the innocent woman shot in the process of preventing the mugging. Dick would have somehow jumped between the mugger and victim without making a sound, while Tim would have used a Batarang to disarm the thief and also jumped between the two women. 

Jason had less concern for criminal's well-being and more upper body strength than his brothers, though. He took out his grapple gun, adjusted his stance, aimed, and fired. It wrapped around the mugger’s gun hand and he immediately retracted the line, yanking the woman -gun and all- up onto the roof with him. She released a sound somewhere between a shriek and a squawk and then cursed loudly when Jason dumped her onto the roof. 

Jason kicked her gun away once the line loosened from her hand. He retracted his grapple line as she rubbed her (likely injured) shoulder. That gave her a second or two for her brain to catch up to what had just happened before he addressed her. “Tell you what, its been a long night, so if you don’t do anything stupid, I’ll just leave you cuffed here and have a nice officer pick you up soon. Deal?”

The woman turned to him with a nasty look on her face, clearly ready to spew insults. Then she realized who she was facing and her expression turned to horror. The blood drained from her face. “Fuck me, you’re the Red Hood. You’re the one who took out the Hatter!”

Jason dropped anything resembling casualness. “What’s that to you?”

Word of the Red Hood’s deeds tended to spread through Gotham’s Underground quickly. While city officials thought such tales were exaggerated and the general public weren’t convinced he was real, the criminals held no doubts. The mugger could have just heard to watch out for him. She could have heard a cautionary tale about how the Red Hood operates differently; how he’d shot the Mad Hatter without hesitation. She might have been warned that you couldn’t afford to piss him off like you could the Batman.

But the rabbit ears and tail also meant she could have been part of the Wonderland Gang. The Mad Hatter was only one ring below the Joker on the ladder of people Jason hated with a passion these days. Anyone even remotely associated with either Rogue was on his shit list. 

“Nothin’!” She held up her hands as she stood. Her eyes were still wide as saucers. “That perv was workin’ on his own when you got to him.”

Jason settled his free hand near one of his Jericho 941s. “As opposed to?” 

“No, no, no!” She raised her hands higher, until they were at either side of her head. “Just ‘cause he calls himself the Mad Hatter doesn’t mean he was part of the Wonderland Gang. We’re _thieves_. We don’t kill kids. We don’t… 

“We don’t sell kids.” She shuddered, either in fear of the Red Hood or disgust at the Mad Hatter. “We don’t _play_ with them.”

From the time he first took over part of the Gotham Underground, the Red Hood had made it clear that he considered targeting children for _anything_ -trafficking, prostitution, drugs, violence, recruitment, ransom- unacceptable. He’d blown up buildings, broken bones, taken out dozens of men at a time, and shot gang leaders, mob bosses, and Rogues point blank for not respecting that. 

“You better not have.” Jason started moving toward the March Hare, now certain of her identity. “Because I’m gonna be looking into it while the cops book you for robbery.”

“Okay, okay! Look! I’m cooperatin’! You got my gun and I got my hands over my head and everything!” 

Just as it occurred to Jason why that might be a problem, the Rogue grabbed the hare ears off her head and flung them onto him. The electrical charge they released would have dropped him on the spot if his suit wasn’t well insulated against such an attack. They both moved at the same time. She took off for the fire escape and he grabbed his guns, which were currently equipped with his taser fittings. 

He chased her down into the alley and nailed her with the taser just as she was about to climb into the sewers through an open grate. He cursed quietly when she fell into the open grate, unable to stop her fall due to the electricity coursing through her body. That meant he was going to have to climb into the sewer to secure her. 

“I’m really starting to hate the fucking sewers.”

“Why are you going in the sewers?” Tim responded over the comms. 

“I stopped the March Hare from mugging some lady and she fell down there when I tased her.”

“How?” Tim’s tone was one Jason was quite accustomed to hearing. It meant he was already playing out multiple scenarios in his mind to determine the best course of action.

“She opened the damn grate.” Jason was climbing down as he complained. “She was trying to make a run for it.”

He wasn’t as bothered by the Rogue trying to run, or even by having to go into the sewers, as he was angry at the reminder of the Mad Hatter. He knew the Rogue hadn’t been working with the Wonderland Gang when he'd put a bullet in the villain’s spine, but dealing with other Rogues dressed as Lewis Carroll’s characters was putting him in foul mood. If they didn’t want to be associated with the other, long-familiar Rogue, then they should have changed their gimmick. 

“Be careful.” Tim warned. “All their most recent activity suggests the Wonderland Gang is still together. She might have reinforcements. If she was trying to-” 

Jason didn’t catch whatever Tim said next because as soon as his feet touched the ground, he heard someone big coming up on him fast. He managed to twist out of the way just in time for a large man to crash into the ladder he’d climbed down on. The man recovered quickly, turning and charging Jason again. On his face was a half-mask that had two large metal tusks protruding from it. 

Moe Blum, aka The Walrus. Jason had encountered him back when the thug was an enforcer for Black Mask. He was definitely more of a challenge than the March Hare, but still someone Jason could easily handle one on one. 

“Red!” Tim’s tone made it clear to Jason that it wasn’t the first time he’d called him. 

“You were right.” Jason dodged again and punched the Walrus in the kidney as he turned. “She had backup. Walrus.”

As he fought the equally large man, Jason observed several things. The March Hare was gone. He could hear strange footsteps retreating. Clearly, she was being carried by someone. He could also hear someone coming from the other direction. That person’s foot beats sounded soft but heavy. A large person wearing soft-soled shoes.

“More incoming. I’m thinking the Lion and the Unicorn.” Lewis Yarnell and Skitch Benson were both large men, and both were skilled in a fight. They’d started as thugs but grew into enforcers. If Jason ended up fighting the three of them at once in the confines of the sewer, that could be a problem. 

Fortunately, Tim knew that as well. “I’m on my way. ETA three minutes.” Jason could hear the engine of one of their bikes echoing in the background as his little brother spoke into the comm. 

Between the sound and the time-line, Tim had to be using the abandoned tunnels under Gotham. They’d been working on clearing them since Tim had the idea that they could cut back travel time and then purchased the company that owned them through Wayne Enterprises. He’d come up with some practical reason for the buyout and they were all pretty sure no one else remembered that the tunnels existed below the currently functioning subway system. 

Jason blocked the Walrus’ tusks with his gauntlets and kicked the Rogue off of him. Then, he braced himself for impact and used the Lion’s momentum to throw him at his cohort when the other villain tried to jump on him from behind. He heard the Lion’s head collide with the Walrus’ metal mask. It would take him a minute to shake off the ringing in his ears. Especially when the Walrus forcefully threw the other villain off him in order to charge Jason again.

He blocked the Walrus’ tusks with one arm and took a swing at him with the other. The Walrus had the strongest ties to the Mad Hatter of any member of the Wonderland gang. They’d both worked together, for Black Mask, before the Tweed cousins had ever recruited (by persuasion of force) either of them. After the Mad Hatter took his revenge on the Tweeds, the Walrus was the only member of the gang who appeared to remain in good standing with him. That alone was cause for Jason not to pull any punches with the villain, even if he didn’t read as terrorizing as the Mad Hatter.

Jason’s fist connected with the Rogue, but with his other arm blocking the Walrus’ tusks, the attack left him open to the villain’s fists. His armor saved his ribs from cracking, but he still felt it as the Walrus’s fists connected with his sides in rapid succession. He stopped punching the villain in turn and nailed him with the same taser shot he’d hit the March Hare with earlier. It wouldn’t keep a man his size down long, but it bought Jason enough time to stop and think.

The last time the Wonderland Gang had caused problems, Batman, Nightwing, and Robin (Tim filled the position at the time) had taken care of them without any trouble. Jason was sure that he and Tim could handle them. Even still, he didn’t want to take any chances when he was feeling short tempered and Tim had already been in a solid fight that evening. Plus, he figured a less dire fight would be a good test to seeing how Batman handled being called in by Red Hood and Red Robin. 

“How do you feel about calling B in, too?”

Tim didn’t hesitate. “Sending him your location now. Stay focused, Red.”

Jason smirked under the helmet. Of course Tim would know the Rogues’ costumes would be pissing him off. He was also right. Jason needed to focus. He’d already taken a hit that he should have been able to dodge. “Got it, Little Red.”

The Lion was already coming at him again. Jason dodged the first kick and caught the Rogue’s foot on the second before kicking him in the head. Then he got in a few punches before the Lion regained his bearings and was able to start dodging. They were still trading blows when he saw the Walrus starting to recover through the corner of his eye. He could also hear the same strange foot-beats from before approaching quickly. 

Assuming the March Hare wasn’t returning as well, the fight was about to become three on one. The Walrus, the Lion, and Unicorn were all large men like Jason. They were all experienced enforcers who knew their way around a fight. If Tim or Bruce didn’t arrive soon, then not shooting them was going to become a challenge. 

The Unicorn was charging him horn first, but was knocked off his trajectory by a Batarang striking his horn. Even Jason hadn’t heard Tim’s approach until his little brother called “Head’s up!” and flipped over him, the Walrus, and the Lion in order to strike the Unicorn again with the bo staff he’d opened up in midair. 

The Lion switched targets, immediately moving to back up the Unicorn. Jason couldn’t turn to chase him without opening himself up to the Walrus’ tusks. 

“Gun.” Tim called as he engaged both the Lion and The Unicorn with his his bo staff. 

Jason looked over and saw the March Hare taking aim at Red Robin while he was distracted. Fortunately, her injured shoulder and the fact that he was fighting two of her cohorts were making it difficult for her to get a clean shot. 

Jason head-butted the Walrus and pulled one of his Jericho 941s, the one that didn’t have the taser alteration on it. He quickly aimed and fired, missing the woman’s head by a couple inches. That caused her to turn her attention to him, and also startled her enough to throw off her aim. Her return fire was well off and nearly hit the Walrus. 

Jason was about to fire on her again, but he noticed a large shadow that appeared to be moving in behind her. He couldn’t shoot with Bruce right behind his target, so he left his father to handle her. Instead, he shot the Walrus right in his metal half-mask. The man screamed in pain and fell backwards, but the bullet didn’t pierce through the metal. His jaw was probably broken, but he could still fight. 

The March Hare screamed as the Batman fell upon her. This caused each of the other Rogues to look down the sewers toward her. Jason took the opportunity to pistol-whip the Walrus in the back of the head. Tim likewise used the distraction to knock the Lion out against the sewer wall with his bo staff.

Apparently, the Unicorn didn’t notice that his cohorts had been rendered unconscious, because he shouted, “Batman is mine!” and charged toward the vigilante. Tim quickly drew his pellet launcher at the same time that Jason raised his gun. The shot Jason fired hit the helmet on the Unicorn’s head, throwing him off. Before he could recover or fall over, he was encompassed in the net Tim had fired at the Rogue.

Batman looked up after disarming and then handcuffing the March Hare. Between the darkness and the distance, he couldn’t be sure, but Jason thought his father smirked when his saw his sons surrounded by the Rogues they’d taken care of. 

He sounded the way Batman usually did when he spoke. “Are you two alright?”

Jason and Tim looked at one another. They’d both be sore for a while, but nothing serious. They’d had better nights on patrol but they’d had much worse as well. Especially on Halloween.

They turned back to Bruce. 

“We’re good.” Jason answered. 

“What about you?” Tim asked. 

“Not bad for Halloween.” Bruce maintained the Batman voice and walk as he approached them. The March Hare shuddered where he left her. “But the night isn’t quite over yet.”

Tim nodded once. “I’ll tell Gordon he has some more Rogues to collect. I want to consult with him on the KGBeast case anyway. I think I found his target.”

“I’m going to continue patrolling the city until sunrise.” Bruce turned to Jason. “Hood, are you up to joining me?”

Inside his helmet, Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m half your age, old man. It takes a lot more than a few punches to put me out of commission.”

Bruce made a noncommittal sound that was Batman for ‘excuse me?’ while Tim bit his lip to avoid grinning. Then, Tim separated from Jason and Bruce to go retrieve his bike, which he’d left in one of the old tunnels that Jason had figured he’d used. Considering how successful that idea turned out to be, Jason suspected they’d be working on those old tunnels a lot once they healed up. He didn’t mind the work, and being able to get around the city that quickly would more than make up for any inconveniences the set up caused. 

Bruce spoke quietly as they climbed the ladder Jason had used to enter the sewers. “I understand why you might see it differently at your age, but you realize I’m not that old, right?”

Jason released a short laugh. “Yeah, but you’ve been aging in vigilante years for over fifteen years now. Your birth certificate might say you’re forty-two, but your bones say fifty-five.”

“Fifty-five, huh?” Bruce sounded mildly amused.

Jason grinned as he climbed out of the sewer. “At _least_.”

“Still have at least another fifteen years before retirement then.” This time, Jason was close enough to be sure his father smirked as they closed the grate that led to the sewers. “Plenty of time to pass on some more life lessons to you kids before you’re out here on your own.”

“You can’t tell, but I just rolled my eyes at you.” He had. Jason scoffed when his father frowned. “C’mon, B. You aren’t gonna retire until your body forces you to, and even then, you’re gonna be on the Bat-Computer all night monitoring us as best you can.”

His father didn’t try to deny it. 

Jason continued as they headed out of the alley. He figured they’d be parting ways once they hit the street. “Plus, I have three brothers and a sister thanks to you. And unlike you, I have friends that I’ll actually call in when needed. Me being ‘on my own’ isn’t likely to ever happen again. You- What?”

Bruce had abruptly stopped walking. Jason hadn’t been ignoring his surroundings -no one in his family ever truly did- but he took a more focused stock to ensure he hadn’t missed something ominous. Not finding anything of concern, he quickly looked at his father again. The man was looking at him with a small smile. 

“ _What_?” Jason felt the question warranted repeating. 

“I haven’t heard you talk like that before.” He explained further without Jason having to ask what he was talking about. “Like you were certain of your future, and your family’s place in it.” The smile remained. Bruce patted Jason’s shoulder. “I like it.”

Jason wasn’t sure what to do with that. In the past, he’d have shut his father down with a sarcastic remark or scathing quip. More recently, he’d have used humor to put some emotional distance between them. But lately, Bruce had been making a genuine effort to talk to him about that sort of thing; to let him know what he was feeling. He knew that didn’t come naturally to his father, and he didn’t want to insult him when he was actually trying. 

He also didn’t want to pause for a heart to heart about family. The night wasn’t over yet and his ribs were staring to feel sore already. He knew Tim had to be feeling worse, and he also knew his little brother wasn’t going to call it a night any sooner than he was. They needed to keep moving if they were going to keep going until the sun came up and most criminals and their prey went to bed or pretended to be living their lives in a normal city during the day.

He shrugged and tried for something in-between. Finding the middle ground was usually Tim’s area, but he figured he couldn't make the situation too awkward if he botched it. “I prefer looking forward to looking back these days.” 

“So do I.” Bruce sounded a little regretful. Like he might prefer to look forward, but that didn’t mean he didn’t look back from time to time. 

Jason understood how hard it could be not to look back sometimes, even when you knew you wouldn’t like what you saw.

He wondered what Bruce saw that he didn’t like. He wondered just how much of his past his father regretted. 

It wouldn’t help to bring it up. They had to look forward. The night wasn’t over yet.

“I’m gonna check the East End.” Jason turned to keep moving. “Call if you need any backup.”

“You too, Hood.” His father was moving again too. 

Tim’s voice cut in before either could say anything else. “Do you guys know you left your comms open?”

“Fuck.” Jason hated it when that happened with other people. He was so used to keeping in contact with Tim these days that he didn’t even notice. “Next time, say something sooner.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” His little brother didn’t sound very sorry. “I’m just about to break into Gordon’s office, but remember you can call me too if you need any help.”

Jason smirked to himself. No matter how much they worked together now, how often they called upon each other for help, Tim always made sure he knew his little brother was available to lend a hand. “You too, Little Red.”

The remainder of the night wasn’t eventful by their usual standards. Tim continued working on the KGBeast case while Jason and Bruce broke up dozens of small scale crimes. They each returned to their respective bases before sunrise. Bruce intended to get some sleep before he retrieved Damian from the Kents’ house while Jason and Tim changed out of their suits and headed home. 

The man at the reception desk of their building greeted them and asked if they wanted any of the candy left over from the bowl they had for any trick or treaters who came in. Jason and Tim turned it down, commenting that they’d gotten some while taking their little brother out in Metropolis. 

Dex greeted them at the door when they made it up to their apartment and then accompanied Tim on his usual return-home perimeter check. They cleaned up and Jason grabbed a bottle of acetaminophen from the bathroom. Tim took the pills he offered and then tossed Jason an ice pack while he put some water in the microwave for his hot water bottle. Once they were settled down with their pain relief of choice and Tim’s cat, Jason unwrapped one of the fun-sized peanut butter pumpkins he’d gotten. 

Tim laughed quietly as he booted up his Bat-top (which is what they all called the laptop he’d customized for vigilante work) to finish up the KGBeast case. “You’re eating candy _now_? Aren’t you planning to sleep at all tonight?”

Jason arched a brow and looked pointedly at the computer before returning his gaze to his little brother. “Are you planning to sleep at all _this week_?” 

Tim rolled his eyes but kept working. “I just need to finish tracking where the KGBeast’s target has been storing the funds they’ve illegally siphoned from their charity and then I’ll be well on the way to figuring out who hired him.”

Dex was laying on the armrest beside his owner and looking back and forth between the two brothers as they spoke.

Jason nodded and opened a little pouch of candy corn. “So that’s a ‘no’?”

His little brother sighed. “I’ll have this search done in less than an hour. Then I promise to get some sleep, okay?”

“Better.” Jason smirked and adjusted the ice pack on his bruised ribs. He glanced at the hot water bottles Tim was sitting on and against. “How’re you feeling?”

Tim’s tone was level and conversational, as if his response was normal. “Like the KGBeast threw me around like a rag doll. You?”

His big brother released a quiet laugh that turned into a low groan. “Feels like the Walrus used my ribs as a punching bag.”

Tim wore a small, companionable smile. “I’m really glad we cleared our work schedules for tomorrow.”

“Fuck yeah.” Jason sighed and stretched out a little on the sofa. “The last time I got hit like this, I lied and said I got into a bar fight. If I do that again, they’re going to start thinking I’m a drunk.” 

Jason drank, but always responsibly. After seeing the mess his biological father had become, not to mention his mother’s addiction, he wasn’t taking any chances. He really didn’t like the idea of anyone even thinking he was the same as them. He’d only used the bar fight excuse because it was the first thing that came to mind that didn’t read ‘potential vigilante’ and wouldn’t have been a big enough deal to attract the press. He didn’t want to use it again if it was avoidable.

Tim grinned, but didn’t look up from his work as he responded. “I told them you just said that to sound tough and that you’d really been kicked by Damian’s cow when you were helping him treat a case of chapped udders. They don’t think you’re a drunk; they know you’re a good big brother. If we’re both clearly beaten up when we go back, just say I was mugged and you jumped in to defend me. There are so many muggings on Halloween here, no one will think anything of it not being in the papers.”

Jason grinned as well. He reached over to his candy pile and then glanced at Tim. He poked him with his foot. “Hey, trade you a pack of skittles for that chick-o-stick you got.”

His little brother arched a brow and turned his eyes to look at him. They shared a smile. “Deal.”

All in all, it had been a pretty good Halloween.


End file.
